Qian Nairong: Keeping the Shanghainese language alive

The silencing of Shanghainese was one of various schemes – see also: banning pajamas, banning Chinglish – authorities tried to push through pre-Expo. Like the others, it didn’t quite work out. Though, unlike the others, it was probably due to a widespread backlash that made Shanghainese even more popular. One of the people who’ve helped more and more Shanghai residents is Qian Nairong, Shanghai University professor and Xinmin’s resident “Shanghainese” columnist. CNNGo has a great profile piece on him that just went up today – I recommend you read it, even if you can’t tell your 侬(nong)s from your 我(ngu)s.